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�������� students Allison Reetz, Morgan Morel and Ren McScoggin were awarded the prestigious National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship.

The Hollings Scholarship program awards students two years of academic assistance and a 10-week paid summer internship at a NOAA facility; they will find out their internship locations sometime this fall. This year, 820 students applied to the Hollings scholarship program but only 130 were selected.

“When I found out I got the scholarship it didn’t even feel real,” Reetz said. “I felt an immediate excitement but also a long-term excitement that I get to pick out a project that I find really interesting and get to be a part of it.”

The award covers travel to a mandatory NOAA Scholarship Program orientation, the annual Science & Education Symposium and scientific conferences where students present their research. Students who choose not to reside at home during the summer internship will also receive a housing subsidy.

“I’m excited to not only get research experience but to then actually get to present research I conducted at symposiums and conferences,” Morel said. “I’m excited to do research in something I might actually want to develop a career in. Getting research experience is something my professors in the Marine and Coastal Science program have been emphasizing and something I am really looking forward to doing.”

Applicants are asked to write numerous essays outlining their scientific interests, backgrounds and goals and how they each aligned with NOAA’s mission and core values.

“I was able to take little tidbits of what I learned in my courses and apply it to things that are going on in this real-life science application,” Reetz said. “I would say the courses have definitely prepped me. Western and how undergraduate focused it is really made a huge difference in helping my application be really strong and in helping me feel ready.”

The Hollings Scholarship allows students to expand their professional network while gaining hands on research experience in fields that interest them.

“They are sophomores designing and conducting their own research project, that’s something people do as seniors, if they get to do that at all,” Environmental Science Professor John McLaughlin said. “They realize that you can sort of go through the motions, or you can really make a contribution to our world and have adventures, and they have chosen to pursue both.”

Allison Reetz

Allison Reetz is working towards completing Westerns Environmental Science program with an emphasis on toxicology and a minor in mathematics. Reetz, from Boise, Idaho, transferred from Colorado State University to Western after taking a year off to get her EMT license.

After graduation, Reetz hopes to either pursue a master’s or doctoral degree in toxicology, focusing on disaster management and cleanup, or complete a degree in environmental law.

Morgan Morel

Morgan Morel, a native of Edmonds, is a Marine and Coastal Science major. Whales were Morel’s first introduction to the Marine Sciences, but she has since shifted her focus to salmon and marine conservation. Morel's current interest lies in salmon's environmental and cultural significance to the region and how dam removals impact salmon.

Ren McScoggin

Ren McScoggin, from Austin, Texas, is an Environmental Science Freshwater and Terrestrial Ecology major. McScoggin hopes to center her research on trees and the canopy layer of forests, particularly those in tropical and temperate rainforests. Next year, McScoggin will be completing an independent study abroad in Costa Rica at a biological research station before starting her NOAA internship over the summer. For the NOAA scholarship McScoggin focused on her secondary interests of freshwater river systems and riparian zones.